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LUBBOCK, Texas — The Gianna Kneepkens heater came to an end on the road Wednesday as Utah battled it out on the court with Texas Tech.
But fortunately for the Utah women's basketball team, fellow veteran Jenna Johnson picked a perfect time to have one of her best games of the season. The senior forward took over in the third quarter, scoring 12 of her 20 points, to give Utah a narrow lead going into the final quarter.
From there, it was Ines Vieira hitting four straight free throws and Kneepkens added two more in the final minute to lift the Utes to a 70-64 win over the Red Raiders.
Utah (17-5, 8-3 Big 12) failed to make a field goal in the final 4:13 of the game despite shooting 53% from the field, but got enough done at the free-throw line to get the team another road win.
The Utes controlled a 4-point lead late in the game before Texas Tech (14-11, 3-9 Big 12) hit a corner 3-pointer to narrow the lead. From there, Utah did just enough to stay in front, but struggled to pull away for good.
Kneepkens was called for an offensive foul on a drive to the rim with 45.4 seconds left and Utah nursing a 3-point lead, but the defense stepped up on the other end to force Texas Tech into a turnover and to send Maye Toure to the line.
Toure missed both free throws but proved pivotal in the final minutes of the game, especially on defense. She finished with a double-double that included 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Kennady McQueen added 18 points in her second start after sustaining an injury weeks ago that kept her out of competition. Just like Johnson, McQueen turned the tide in the third quarter, scoring 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc.
McQueen finished with four 3-pointers on a night where Utah made nine on 43% shooting from behind the 3-point line.
Texas Tech had four players finish in double figures while shooting 49% from the field. Jasmine Shavers led the team with 15 points, including three made 3-pointers, and three rebounds in the loss.
Both teams traded leads in the first quarter in an evenly matched start before Texas Tech pulled away for a game-high 6-point lead in the second quarter behind a balanced team scoring. Still Texas Tech only controlled a 33-31 lead at the halftime break.
Johnson opened up the second half with a personal 5-0 run to give Utah the lead before eventually building it up to an 8-point lead. Johnson's early heroics allowed Utah to never trail for the remainder of the game.
